Thursday 30th June 2016

The Syrian Refugee crisis. It’s been called the worst humanitarian crisis of our time, and every day we see more and more lives harmed as a result of it. We also see more and more people chipping in to help.


This year, a number of boys at John McGlashan joined together to do their bit. As part of the annual 40 Hour Famine run by World Vision, many boys at the school chose to ‘live out of a backpack’ for 40 hours to show solidarity with Syrian refugees and to raise money for them.

As an additional event, the school chapel was transformed into a makeshift 'refugee camp' over the weekend of the Famine. This came complete with border guards, a dinner of soup and bread, and a city of cardboard boxes for the students to sleep in. As always, it was fantastic to see students getting into the experience and trying to raise money for those less fortunate.

Thanks must go to all who helped organise the Famine this year, with special thanks to Dr Macleod and Rev. Kelk for working tirelessly to get it off the ground. Here's hoping next year's Famine goes just as well.

See the attached videos for a glimpse of this event. 

40H Challenge participants apply for 'temporary passports' upon arrival 
Caleb, Miro and Flook sit down for their 'soup and bun' meal
Archie fills out a form for 'border security' during the 40H Challenge
Ben complies with 'entry testing' as his 'passport' is examined
40H Challenge 2016: Identifying with Syrian refugees
Daniel, Calvin and Archie reflect on the experiences of refugee children